Remanent of a Legacy
by rageofkyubii
Summary: A battle won. A friend returned. A promise kept. But a desperate attempt by the fallen leads to a consequence no one saw coming. Or wanted. NaruHina with just a touch of Harem, who the person is depends on reviews. Rated M just in case.
1. The Tragic Consequence of the Dec

This is my first attempt at a fanfic, so, if there are any complaints, keep in mind that the quality and length of each chapter will improve as I go. The main pairing will be Naru/Hina. I'm not sure if I'll include any other pairings, but that's because the fic will be Naruto-centric.

A big thanks to my betas, Margulis and PalookaLord, for proofreading my work. Without them, this story would be one giant mess of letters and words. So show your appreciation and go read their fics.

I own Naruto…….but only in my head. Are you happy now? (hides in corner and sulks)

* * *

"Regular Talk"

"_Thoughts/Flashbacks"_

"_**Inner Sakura"**_

Remnant of a Legacy

Ch. 1: The Tragic Consequence of the Decisive Battle

"**Chidori Nagashi!"**

"**Rasenshuriken!"**

One enormous explosion later, Uzumaki Naruto pulled himself out of the remains of a large boulder, now nothing more than a pile of rocks. _"Dammit….that hurt like hell….though having to deal with Sakura after using that attack again will probably hurt a lot worse…...Oh crap…"_

"Naruto, you IDIOT!!!" Naruto suddenly found himself implanted into the ground, courtesy of Sakura's fist. "What the hell did Kakashi-sensai and Tsunade-sama tell you about using that technique?!"

"What do you know, I was right….Yay for me…" Naruto murmured from the ground.

"N-Naruto-kun, are you al-alright?"

Naruto smiled to himself, in spite of the throbbing pain in his head. "Don't worry about it, Hinata-chan, I'm fine," he said, pulling himself off the ground and rubbing the back of his head. "Sakura-chan's hit me a lot harder than that before…"

Hinata slowly turned toward Sakura, Byakugan activating on instinct. Sakura backed up, hands up in a gesture of surrender. "N-now Hinata, I would n-never use enough f-force to actually _hurt_ Naruto, so…" Inner Sakura was curled and cowering in a corner, rocking back and forth. _**"I won't do it again, I promise, just PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!"**_

Naruto just blinked at the scene, not understanding what Hinata was so upset about. _"Wow, Hinata's scarier than Sakura-chan when she's angry. It's kind of cool, actually…"_ he thought, smiling slightly. The three were soon joined by the rest of the Konoha 11, most just laughing at the sight of Sakura cowering in fear from Hinata. Neji, however, spoke up before things got too far.

"Perhaps we should check on the condition of the Uchiha_ before_ Hinata-sama decides to demonstrate the more advanced Jyuuken techniques on Haruno-san." Hinata suddenly remembered herself upon Neji's words, blushing profusely when she realized everyone was staring at her. "Go-Gomenasi, Sakura-san!" she breathed, bowing repeatedly.

Sakura managed to compose herself before Hinata got too far. "It's alright, Hinata," she said, leaning over to whisper to the still-blushing girl, "Although I think you impressed Naruto a little bit." Hinata's face suddenly resembled a tomato as she looked out of the corner of her eye at the blond as he talked with the rest of the team.

Damn, Neji, you ruin everything," Kiba whined, relaxing on Akamaru's back. "And just when it was getting good, too."

"Troublesome…" muttered Shikamaru, eyes closed as he leaned against an uprooted tree, Choji chuckling and eating next to him.

"Your sense of entertainment leaves much to be desired, Kiba." Kiba turned to growl at a stoic Shino. "Although I am happy to see Hinata is beginning to positively assert herself, I am in agreement with Neji-san on establishing the physical condition of Uchiha Sasuke."

"……Yeah, so….I'll just go check on Sasuke," Naruto said, eye twitching as he stared at Shino. "I'll be back," he said, turning around and walking toward where he and Sasuke's final attacks clashed. "Behave yourself, Sai."

"Enjoy looking for dickless," Sai called back, earning a blow to the back of the head.

"How DARE you talk that way in front of a lady!" Ino shrieked.

"Hmmm, you're about as bad as Ugly-Dog over there." Sai replied. Instantly, a killer intent rivaling that of Orochimaru start emulating from both Ino and Sakura, who had happened to overhear Sai's last comment. The others could only watch in shocked fear as both of the kuniochi launched themselves at the unfortunate boy, eyes blazing in fury. Apparently, Sai had yet to learn the most important rule of all: Never get Hanero Sakura pissed at you. The results are almost always painful.

"YOSH!! Sakura-san's and Ino-san's Flames of Youth are burning brighter than I have ever seen! Lee exclaimed, tears streaming down his face. "GAI-SENSEI!!! I have finally inspired others in their Springtime of Youth! I shall go compliment Sakura-san and Ino-san on their impressive Flames of Youth and then I shall ask Sakura-san on a date and-"

"Lee," interrupted TenTen, gaining the boy's attention, "Trust me when I say you do _not_ want to do that." She stopped for a moment, watching as the dust cloud containing Sakura, Ino, and Sai slowly passed by. "And those aren't Flames of Youth, they're flames of _rage_." Before Lee could come up with an argument for that, Hinata gained everyone's attention.

"D-did anyone see where Naruto-kun went?" she asked, eyes frantically searching for any sign of the shinobi. Sakura and Ino looked up; halting in their effort to maim what was left of Sai.

"You know, I was wondering that myself. He shouldn't be able to even move after fighting like he did for over an hour," Sakura said, dusting herself off.

"Naruto has gone in search of the Uchiha," Neji commented, staring off the direction that Naruto had disappeared to, "and it should be no surprise what he is capable of." Kiba sweatdropped.

"Says the guy who got his ass handed to him in the Chunin Exam because he underestimated him." Kiba remarked, hoping to get a rise out of the Hyuuga. Neji eye twitched, but as he turned to stare at the dog ninja, his face wore a very Naruto-like smirk. "You're one to talk, Inuzuka." responded Neji, causing Kiba to sputter like a madman.

"Why I oughta-"

"If you are both finished behaving like first year Ninja Academy students," called out Shikamaru, earning a glare from both Kiba and Neji, "we should probably go find Naruto." He grunted as he stood up fully. "I'm a little worried that we haven't heard anything from him yet…"

Hinata suddenly looked horrified at the thought of Naruto in trouble. "You d-don't think anything could have h-happ-"

"DAMN YOU SASUKE!!! HOW COULD YOU?! **RASENGAN!!!**"

Everyone shielded their faces as huge gusts of wind tore through the clearing they were standing in, uprooting the trees that managed to survive the initial battle and kicking up dirt and rocks everywhere. As the winds finally died down, the teens stood there, staring at each others, eyes wide.

"I would say something HAS happen," Shino stated, skin unusually pale, "and what ever it was…was definitely not good."

"Naruto-kun…" whispered Hinata, visibly shaking. Everyone else had similar looks of distress on their faces, save one.

"What are you all standing around for?" Neji shouted, his eyes filled with anger. "MOVE!!!" The ninja quickly sped off in the direction the scream of rage originated from.

When they finally found Naruto, they were instantly confused.

Naruto was standing with his back to the group, breathing heavily, his fist raised as if he was about to attack the unconscious body at his feet. That's not what was confusing them, however. What WAS confusing them was that the body on the ground that Naruto was facing was…Naruto.

"Naruto….What is…" Choji asked, too shocked to eat. "Why are….Where is…."

"Naruto, please explain what happen," Shino calmly inquired, though there was an undertone of worry in his voice.

"Orochimaru's technique …."

"Nani?" Sakura asked.

"He used Orochimaru's body-transfer technique …" Naruto said in a dead voice, still not turning to face everyone.

"Body-transfer…wha?" Kiba felt as if some sort of revelation was about to be revealed, and it was going to be extremely horrible.

"It's what Orochimaru used to keep himself alive for so long." Everyone turned in shock toward Sai, surprised to hear the anger in his voice. "He created a kinjutsu that allowed him to transport his soul into another person's body."

"It's also why he was so intent on having Sasuke-kun desire to leave Konoha and seek him out," Sakura said, eyes clouded over in sadness. "Orochimaru wanted his body to gain the power of the Sharingan."

"That's…..that's horrible!' Ino breathed, her face turning a light shade of green. "How could anyone even _think_ of doing something like that?"

"Orochimaru did," Neji stated, disgust evident in his voice. "And apparently, so did the Uchiha."

"So….Sasuke attempted to steal your body and instead got a Kage Bunshin? And then you knocked him out with your Rasengan technique? …NARUTO-KUN, YOU ARE AMAZING!!! YOUR KAGE BUNSHIN BEING ABLE TO WISTAND SUCH A STRONG-"

"No Lee…"

"Nani?"

"No matter how much chakra that I push into a Bunshin, it can't get hit with a strong jutsu like Rasengan without being destroyed," Naruto forced out, his voice cracking slightly.

"Then…Oh Kami…Naruto-kun…" whispered Hinata, tears quickly running down her face.

Sakura kept turning to face either Hinata's horrified face or Naruto's back. "What, What is it? Naruto, what…"

"The kinjutsu worked, Sakura. Sasuke got my body." Naruto finally turned his head, a sad smile on his face and eyes closed to hold back the tears he felt building up.

"I'm the Bunshin."

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Author Notes

Sad, isn't it? Bet you didn't see that coming, did you? All that humor just to throw a dramatic (and incredibly depressing, in my opinion) curve at the end. The rest of the Fic will more than likely not have as much humor as this chapter did, for obvious reasons, though there will still be a little bit to keep the story from becoming too depressing.

While this is definitely will stay a NaruHina fanfic, I may decide to add in a touch of Harem in the mix with the other girls developing or expressing some sort of feelings toward Naruto because of the situation, but Naruto not feeling the same way…I'm really not sure. This is sort of a work-in-progress. I got the basic idea for most of the scenes down, but the rest is out in the open for now. Based on your reviews, I may change some things, but the one thing I won't move on is the NaruHina pairing. Stubborn, ain't I? I will make sure that every chapter is at the very least 1,200 words. I really hate ultra-short chapters. Also, my updates may be a little sporadic (though at least twice a month), mostly due to the fact that I don't have the Internet at my home. I'm forced to go to a Whataburger with free Wi-Fi, so yippee for me……I know, it's sad.

Reviews and questions are welcomed, flames…..eehh, not so much.

Next chapter: _The Fate of the Unpredictable. _Also, whoever can guess the meaning of the title Remnant of a Legacy gets a special mention in the next chapter.


	2. The Fate of the Unpredictable

Wow, you guys make me feel so loved… (sniff). Seriously though, I'm surprised at the response I got back from the first chapter. I thought I would have to post at least four chapters before I started getting the amount of feedback that I received for what was basically a setup chapter. And no flames either, which to be honest, surprised me. I thought there'd be people wanting to skin me alive for what I did to Naruto (heck, I almost want to **let** you do it. Poor Naruto.) I know it seems like I really screwed him over, but trust me when I say it was necessary to the plot that Sasuke take Naruto's body.

You may notice some of the other characters acting a little OOC in the fic, but keep in mind that there dealing with one _hell _of a tragedy, so I think they're allowed to act a little out of character. The only exception to this is Neji. His reasons for being OOC are different. I'll give you the reasons behind that at the end of the chapter, mostly because I wasted enough time talking when I bet at least half of you have already skipped to the beginning of the chapter, so….On with the fic!

A special thanks goes out to Magnesium Rasengan for being the first to Author/Story Alert me and to silver dragon15 for being my first reviewer.

Also, a big thanks to my betas, Margulis and PalookaLord.

**Disclaimer:** Once, I stole Naruto from Kishimoto. I owned it for two whole minutes…..and then his lawyers came and broke my legs.

* * *

"Regular Talk"

"_Thoughts/Flashbacks"_

"**Thoughts in Flashbacks**"

"_**Inner Sakura"**_

Remnant of a Legacy

Ch. 2: The Fate of the Unpredictable

The walk back to Konoha was less crowded and much slower than it had been when the ninja had left. Lee and Tenten had left with Sasuke, unconscious and hand tied together with the wire TenTen used in her attacks, to place him in the hands of the ANBU. Shikamaru, being the team captain, had gone on ahead with his teammates to inform the Hokage of what had transpired on the mission, and Shino and Kiba had carried a hysterically sobbing Hinata to her home. Neji and Sai had opted to stay with Naruto, as well as Sakura, though she had another reason for staying.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Naruto growled, clearly agitated at the pace they were moving. "It doesn't take that much chakra to jump from tree to tree and-"

"Naruto, for the last time, NO!!" Sakura screamed, stopping and turning to glare at Naruto, at her wit's end having to listen to his constant whining. "We can't move any faster than this without risking your…your…"

Naruto watched as Sakura's face slowly changed from angry to sorrowful. _"Crap, I've got her thinking about it now. I can't let her get as bad off as Hinata-chan was….now that I think about it, why exactly WAS Hinata so upset? I don't think I've ever seen her looking that distressed before. And then before, she got angry at Sakura when she thought she was beating up on me…Do I really mean that much to her?"_ Naruto was brought out of his thoughts by Sai.

"Ugl…Sakura's right, Naruto. We need to make sure nothing happens until we get back to Konoha and see the Hokage to see if anything can be done," Sai reasoned, sounding uncharacteristically worried. Naruto looked from Sai's concerned face to Sakura's tearful one.

"Alright, Sakura, you win. We'll take it slow. And don't worry!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed, face breaking into a wide grin. "Baa-chan will know exactly what to do to get me back to normal. Everything will be fine!" he finished, flashing her a thumbs up. Sakura smiled sadly and wiped her eyes on her arm as she turned and started walking again, Sai following at a close, albeit still safe, distance. When they had both walked out of earshot, Naruto turned to look at Neji, who had until this point stayed silent.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Naruto asked, his face set in a small frown. Neji nodded, a barely perceivable tilt of the head. They both turned to follow after the others.

"What's on your mind?" Neji questioned, eyes closed as they moved forward.

"It's….about Hinata… ," Naruto said, both eyes glued to Neji as if he was expecting something to happen. "Why was she so upset when she heard that I'm…well, you know…"

"A buffoon?" Neji calmly asked, one eye opening to look at Naruto, a slight smile tugging at his face.

"Ha ha," Naruto scowled, though his eyes showed that he was grateful for avoiding the topic. "Its just…you would have thought her whole life was over with the way she reacted." Neji slightly winced at the analogy that was used, but Naruto did not seem to notice. "How… just how _important_ am I to her?"

Neji was silent for several minutes as the village gates came into view. Naruto opened his mouth to say something when Neji responded. "Unfortunately, while I would like nothing better than to give you an answer, Naruto, I'm afraid it is not my place to say. The person you should ask that question is Hinata-sama."

Naruto sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "…Yeah, that's kinda the answer I expected from you, Neji." He smirked as they passed through the village gates. "You're always so damn cryptic."

"Heh," Neji laughed lightly. "Or maybe you're just horrible at reading underneath the underneath."

--------------------

Naruto was really getting sick of it.

When he had entered the village, after been forced to _walk_ all the way there by Sakura and the others, Ero-Sennin had automatically come up to him and said that Tsunade–baachan wanted to see him. So they _walk_ed to the Hokage Tower. As soon as they got to her office, baachan had said they were taking him to a private room in the hospital. So they (I)walk(I)ed all they way there. Then he had to _**walk**_ up the stairs to the top floor, (I)walk(I) down a long hallway, and now he was **walk**ing into a hospital room. As a ninja, and a hyped-up person in general, Naruto was use to

"_For kami's sake, it not like I'm going to use up all the chakra I have left by jogging a little bit or anything,"_ Naruto thought fiercely as he stomped into the room, Tsunade following him in leaving Jiraiya to guard the room. _"I think I know how to make a Kage Bunshin strong enough so that when I move around I don't have to worry that I'll make mys__**ELF**__**POP IF I USE A LITTLE CHAKRA!!!!**__...okay, I have no idea what I just said, err, thought…"_

Naruto shook himself out of his mental rant just as Tsunade finished locking the door. Turning to face him, he saw the fear and the sadness in her eyes. It was with a pang that he realized how upset she truly was with the situation. She was probably feeling the same way she did when her brother and lover. _"And if she felt like that, it means there was no "fixing" me,"_ Naruto thought sadly. _"I only have as long as it takes the chakra in my body to burn out, and then…"_

"…Naruto…, how did all of this happen?" Tsunade asked in a low voice, drawling Naruto's attention to her. "What happened after you left the others to go look for Sasuke?"

Naruto blinked in surprise a few times, than dropped his head, his hair concealing his blue eyes. As much as he wanted to forget what had happened and what Sasuke had done to him, he needed to let Tsunade know. _"After all,"_ he reflected bitterly, staring down at his hands _"There's no telling how long I'll be around anymore."_ Sighing, he Began telling his story.

--------------------

_Naruto slowly made his way across the site of the epic battle. He was having a little trouble, however, due to both his low chakra levels and the damages to the surrounding area. __**"Note to self: never have a major battle within the gates of the village,"**__ Naruto decided, climbing over a particularly high piece of rubble. __**"I'd end up taking out more then half the village and baachan would have my head on a platter….AFTER she'd finish beating me half to death."**_

_After another five minutes of searching, he finally spotted Sasuke, struggling to remove himself from underneath a felled tree. "Having trouble there, Sasuke?" Naruto questioned, struggling not to laugh at the sight._

"_What did you do to me, dobe?" Sasuke demanded, finally managing to pull himself out from under the tree but still unable to stand. "What the hell is wrong with my body?"_

"_Ah, that would be the special effect of my Rasenshuriken," Naruto mocked, leaning down to look the Uchiha in the eye. "It completely severs the nerve channels in every single cell of your body."_

_Naruto watched as Sasuke dropped his head to stare at the ground beneath him, face frozen in total shock. "I told both you and Sakura," Naruto declared, face now entirely serious. "I'd do whatever it takes to bring you back to the village. Even if that means having to taking away your ability to be a ninja."_

_Sasuke stayed silent, not even acknowledging he heard him at all. "It was for your own good, Sasuke…I'm sorry it had to come to this." Naruto said, standing up and turning around to call for the others._

"_I won't let you…"_

"_Huh?" Naruto turned to stare at Sasuke, who was suddenly standing with his head bowed, less than two feet away from the orange-clad shinobi. "What the-"_

"_I won't let you DO THIS TO ME!!!" shouted Sasuke, head whipping up to stare him in the eyes, Sharingan whirling. Naruto visibly flinched as he felt a large amount of power coming from Sasuke, knowing instinctively something bad was about to happen._

"_**Shit!"**__ Naruto mentally cursed, hands coming together in a cross-shaped symbol. "Kage Bunshin no Jut-"_

_The power that Sasuke had been building up was suddenly released, knocking Naruto back before he could fully complete the technique. As such, he was only able to create one clone. It quickly ran over to where the original Naruto was starting to stir. "Are you okay? What the hell was that just now?" The Bunshin looked over to where Sasuke had been, now flat on his back and seemingly dead to the world. "Just what was Sasuke trying to do? Come to think of it, how the hell was he able to get up that fast in the first place? It doesn't make any sense!"_

"_It makes perfect sense…"_

"_What?" asked the clone, watching as the original Naruto turned to smirk at him._

"_With the use of a forbidden technique, you can do almost anything," said the original, the expression on the original's face and his posture looking extremely similar to...The clone's eyes widened._

"_Sas-Sasuke? How…how," Naruto stuttered, staring at himself staring back, the evil smirk on his original's face growing even wider. The clone's eyes narrowed as he made the connection, a Rasengan forming in his hand unconsciously._

"_DAMN YOU SASUKE!!! HOW COULD YOU?! __**RASENGAN!!!"**_

_Naruto slammed the Rasengan into the face of his unsuspecting former body, watching in pure anger as 'Sasuke' flew into the side of a nearby cliff, fallen down into a heap as the technique wore off. He walked up to where 'Sasuke' lay._

"_**Dammit, Sasuke….how could you do something like this? Are you so obsessed with power that you would actually do this to a person? You fucking bastard…you're no better than Orochimaru…"**__ the Naruto Bunshin thought as he heard the rest of his friends appear behind him_

--------------------

Tsunade sat in shocked silence as Naruto finished speaking, her eyes full of unshed tears. Naruto for his part was silent with his head bowed, desperately trying to keep the tears in his eyes from falling. So he was surprised when Tsunade suddenly wrapped his arms around him in a loose hug.

"It's alright, Naruto. You don't have to hold it back anymore," Tsunade whispered, tightening her hold on Naruto as she shed a few tears. "It's alright."

That was all it took for Naruto to wrap his arms around Tsunade as he began to cry uncontrollably. All the emotions he had been holding in, all the fears and sadness he had had building up since he realized he was stuck as a Bunshin were let out as he clung to Tsunade, who was rubbing the back of his back in a comforting gesture.

After a while, Naruto was able to pull himself together, pulling away from Tsunade to wipe his face clear of tears. "Thanks, baachan, I needed that," Naruto said, a small smile on his face. "But…..can I ask you something?" Tsunade nodded. "Could you check my chakra level? I…I want to now how much time I have left before I…" Naruto asked, his voice fading to a whisper as he finished.

Tsunade stared at him, and for a moment Naruto was afraid she would start crying again. But then she gave him small, sad smile. "Of course," she said, closing her eyes and flashing through a few hand seals. When she had finished, she raised a slightly glowing green hand and placed it on his head.

--------------------

Naruto opened the door to the room, surprised when he saw the rest of the Konoha 11, save Hinata, waiting for him outside. When he gave Neji a questioning glance, he answered.

"Hinata-sama is resting at home. I'm sure that she would have been here had she known, but I felt that, given everything that has happened today, it would be best if she spent some time recovering from today's events." Naruto nodded at this. "Thanks, Neji. I wouldn't want her to overexert herself for my sake. So why are you all here?"

Shikamaru scoffed. "Troublesome idiot," earning a half-hearted glare from Naruto, "We were worried about you."

"Yeah, what he said," Kiba responded, throwing a thumb in the lazy ninja's direction. "So what the Hokage say? Was she able to get you back to normal?"

Naruto lightly winced, earning a number of concerned looks from his friends. "Naruto, what…"

"I'm gonna go ahead and head on home," Naruto interrupted, stopping Sakura's question before she could finish. "If you want to know, you can ask Tsunade –sama." He then walked down the hall toward the exit, eyes staring toward the ground. The group was silent in shock. The fact that he had called her Tsunade-(I)sama(I) was definitely cause for concern. They turned to face Tsunade, who had just exited the room. "Tsunade…" Jiraiya questioned, a look of increasing dread on his face, "how long?

Tsunade spoke up, and when they had heard what she said, the girls started to tear up, the boys were in shock, and somewhere in the Hyuuga compound, Hinata gave out a brief cry of grief in her sleep.

"He has about a week-and-a-half at best."

* * *

Author Notes

I know, I know, I'm a major jerk. I told some of the reviewers I wouldn't do another "Evil Cliffhanger no Jutsu" and then I turn around and do another one on the very next chapter. My only excuse is that the only way I thought I could end this chapter without a cliffhanger would have been to make it a hell of a lot shorter, probably ending it right after Naruto and Neji's conversation, and as I said before, I HATE short chapters.

Speaking of Neji, I know a lot of you may be wondering why I wrote Neji's character the way I did. In my mind, I have always seen Neji as a less extreme version of Sasuke, at least in terms of attitude towards other kids their age. The main difference between them was that Naruto was able to convince Neji to change and become a better person. Sasuke, on the other hand, went off and became an even bigger jerk then he was during the first half of the series. So I can easily see how Naruto and Neji could be good friends. Or maybe its just me, I don't' know. At any rate, I like writing the interaction between them. A Neji slightly influenced in attitude by Naruto? You know you want to see that.

I am going to start a new viewer poll. While my first one will be over by the beginning of the next chapter (more than likely I'm just going to stick with NaruHina, just because I'm such an extreme fanboy), this poll will last until my second-to-last or last chapter. The poll question is this: Should Sasuke show be allowed to redeem himself a little by showing remorse for what he did? If he does or not will not affect the actual ending, just the way the ending comes about. Who knows, maybe I'll just post an alternate version of that chapter….in fact, consider that the third option.

**Side Note:**** For those of you who watched the AMVs at AnimeFEST, mine was "Ninja Rock Hallelujah." Let me know if you liked it.**

Reviews and questions will be met with open arms; flames will be kicked in the butt and thrown out the door.

Next chapter: _The Attempted Confrontation of the Timid Princess by the Doomed Fighter_


	3. The Final Times of the Fourth

Wow, you guys really want me to show Sasuke no mercy. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for sticking it to that emo-bitch, I'm just surprised that not one person has argued **for** Sasuke. To be honest, the only reason I had for wanting Sasuke to show remorse is because I had an intriguing(ooh, fancy word) idea for a chapter. But hey, who knows? By the time the poll closes, you guys (and girls, let's be fair about this) may have changed your minds (though I **really** don't want you to). I'll just have to wait and see.

As for the other poll, I have decided on NaruHina. I had planned on doing this from the start, but decided to see if the majority would want it as NaruHarem. My reasons for sticking with this pairing are that, with only a week-and-a-half before his chakra runs out, I don't think I'd be able to give more than one relationship time to develop. Plus, I just like NaruHina more than NaruHarem. However, since there were at least half of you who wanted NaruHarem, I'll have one or two of the other girls develop feelings for Naruto. Please PM me or include in your review the name of the girl you want to "like" Naruto as well as the reasons why she would be the best choice. Just keep in mind that Naruto will only develop feelings for Hinata.

**Thank you, Margulis and PalookaLord. Without you guys, this story would be full of plot holes and grammatical errors. And no one wants that.**

And yes, I know the title's different than what I said it would be. I'll explain why at the end of the chapter.

**Disclaimer: **As much as it depresses me to have to type this every chapter….I don't own Naruto. (locks self in room and cries)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Regular Talk"

"_Flashbacks/Thoughts"_

Remnant of a Legacy

Ch. 3:The Final Times of the Fourth's Legacy Begins

It had been almost two days since Tsunade had announced Naruto's "deadline". The rest of the Rookie 11 had been ordered not to reveal Naruto's situation to anyone. This was to both protect Naruto from those who still thought of him as the Kyuubi, and to allow Naruto to be the one to tell those close to him.

Sasuke, who due to a high level ninjutsu to the face was in a coma, was confined to a hospital room set aside for enemy shinobi, guarded by no less than three teams of ANBU. They were informed to notify the Hokage immediately if there was any change in the prisoner's condition.

During all of this, no one had seen hide nor hair of Naruto at all. He had gone straight from the hospital to his small apartment and had yet to come out. His teammates and friends had come time and time again, sometimes spending over an hour knocking on his front door, trying to get some kind of response from him. But no response was ever given.

Inside his home, Naruto had done very little but stare at the wall since he had returned there. Unable to sleep (and unsure that he was even _able_ to), he did his best to ignore the almost constant pounding on his door. Its not that he didn't understand why his friends wanted to talk to him, he just felt like being by himself for a while. That and he didn't want to be pitied. Uzumaki Naruto _**hated**_ being pitied. For any reason.

"_At least they seemed to finally realize that,"_ Naruto thought, turning his gaze towards the door. It had been silent for over an hour now, as it seemed that the others had finally gotten the message: I'll come out when I damn well **feel** like coming out!

A short but loud knock suddenly came from the door. "Naruto," a voice stated, though it was unrecognizable due to being muffled by the wall, "I need to speak with you."

"_Then again…"_ Naruto mentally growled, opting once again to stay silent. _"Hopefully whoever it is will think I'm asleep or not at home."_

"And it's no use pretending you're not home. I can see you scowling at the wall." Holding back the first three retorts that came to mind (there could have been children nearby, after all), Naruto quickly ran to the door and threw it open. "Dammit Neji, how many times do I have to tell you to stop using your Byakugan to stare into my house?" Naruto yelled at the faintly amused Hyuuga. "What if I had been in the shower?!"

Neji's expression changed to one of badly-feigned surprise. "You mean you actually bathe?"

Naruto slapped his hand over his eyes, though there was a light smile playing on his face. "What do you want, Neji? I'm really not in the mood to entertain…"

Neji's mood suddenly shifted to serious and slightly worried. "Normally I would allow you to collect your thoughts before I asked anything of you but I have a rather urgent and important favor to ask."

Naruto looked through his fingers at his friend, his voice carrying a hint of curiosity. "What do mean by favor? Is something wrong?" Neji let out an almost unnoticeable sigh.

"It's about Hinata-sama."

------------

Ten minutes later, Naruto found himself following Neji into the Hyuuga compound. He shivered as he crossed the threshold, an unnatural chill running down his spine. "Jeez, Neji, are you aware how creepy your house is? If it wasn't for the fact that you said Hinata-chan is so depressed she won't leave her room, I wouldn't come within fifty feet of this place. I swear the temperature's dropped like twenty degrees since we walked in."

"Well, with the noticeable exception of Hinata-sama and a few…others, most of the Hyuuga clan prefer to put up a certain….persona to be viewed by the other villagers." Naruto stared at Neji as they rounded a corner.

"…Which is a nice way of saying they've all got a metal pole shoved straight up their asses." Naruto started to grin at the expression at Neji's face when he suddenly realized something.

"Wait, when you say 'others', who are you…" Sensing a presence close by, he turned his head back to look down the hall, catching sight of a red-faced Hyuuga suddenly disappearing behind a corner. Naruto turned back to face Neji's back, confusion apparent on his face.

"Hey," Naruto questioned, poking Neji in the back, "I thought you said Hinata-chan was refusing to come out of her room."

Neji turned to face Naruto, also confused. "She is. Why would I lie about something as serious as that?"

Naruto scowled. "Well if she's in her room, than why is she following us?" he asked, pointing a thumb behind him. Neji looked in the direction Naruto was pointing for a few seconds before looking back at Naruto. The demon container was unnerved by the smile playing on Neji's face. Previous experiences had told Naruto one thing: when Neji smiles, its almost always bad news for him.

After a few moments of watching Naruto sweat, Neji answered him. "That is not Hinata-sama, it is Hanabi-sama."

"Hinata's sister?" Naruto questioned _"Come to think of it, I do remember Hinata-chan talking about having a younger sister before, although she seemed to be a little annoyed with her ever since I got back from my training trip. Which is weird because Hinata is pretty tolerant of other people. And she always has that cute smile on her face these days…WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA!! Where the hell did THAT come from?!"_ Naruto quickly shook himself out of his thoughts, mainly because he was starting to scare himself a little, and looked at Neji. "Why would she be following us around acting like Hinata does around me? Neji's smile grew it bit wider. _"Oh crap,"_ Naruto thought, _"I'm REALLY screwed now!"_

"It would seem that ever since she saw our match in the Chunin Exams Finals…"

"Oh, you mean that time when I completely and utterly kicked your uptight ass?" Naruto mockingly asked, instantly seeing a way to insert a little payback. Neji cleared his throat with a cough, though it did little to hide the slight blush appearing on his face. _"Jackpot! Score one for Uzumaki!"_ Naruto silently cheered.

"Moving on…" Neji said, finally managing to regain his composure, "Ever since then, she has developed somewhat of a…fascination with you."

"Fascination?" Naruto repeated, confusion quickly giving to extreme annoyance. "What do you mean 'fascination'? Stop being so vague and give me a straight answer, dammit!"

Neji's face suddenly resembled that of Naruto's when he was about to pull a prank. "It means she's in love with you, moron." Naruto's faced rapidly paled until he resembled a Hyuuga with blue eyes. He quickly spun around in the direction he had last seen the younger Hyuuga. While she still jumped to hide behind a corner, Hanabi still managed to blow a kiss and wink at the blond ninja before she disappeared again.

"_Oh. My. Kami."_ Naruto thought, turning to follow Neji to Hinata's room, _"There are so many things wrong with this situation, I don't even know where to begin. If their dad finds out that BOTH of his daughters act like…that…..towards…………..wait a minute. If this Hanabi girl is in love with me, and she's acting like Hinata does, then does that mean that Hinata lo-"_

"We're here."

"GAH!!!" Naruto jumped at the sudden statement by Neji, causing him to hang from the ceiling upside-down, clinging with his hands and feet. "Don't DO that!"

Neji stared up at Naruto, a single eyebrow raised. "Do what exactly?"

"Err, never mind," Naruto stated as he dropped to the floor, an embarrassed blush on his face. He looked over at the door they had stopped in front of. "Is this Hinata's room?" he asked Neji, still staring at the door.

"Yes it is. Remember, Hinata-sama is unaware of your…time limit, so it would be unwise to bring it up. I wish you luck." Naruto turned to look at Neji, who was about to turn a corner.

"Wait, you're leaving?"

Neji turned to face Naruto. "Whatever you plan on saying to Hinata-sama should be left between the two of you. As much as it pains me to admit it, I am unable to help ease her suffering. I believe the only person who can save Hinata-sama from this darkness…is you, Naruto."

"Why do you say that?" Naruto questioned, confusion evident on his face. It was only after Neji had rounded the corner and Naruto was left alone in the hallway that he heard Neji respond.

"Because you saved me from mine."

A few minutes later, Naruto shook himself out of his shock-endued daze with a small shake of the head and a chuckle. "And people call me sappy…" he mumbled, turning to face Hinata bedroom door.

"Now what the hell do I say in this situation?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, I was originally planning on having Naruto and Hinata talk in this chapter, but after a week of just staring at my laptop screen, I realized I don't know where to start. So instead of having to wait another two-three weeks for this chapter, I just going to release it as it is and save the NaruHina scene for next time.

Just to give you fair warning, updates will probably slow down to once a month from here on out. The reason this will happen is because when I first started writing this fic, I had the beginning and the ending planned out, but not the middle, so….yeah. Anyway, I did manage to write a NaruHina oneshot called The Reason I Stayed so check that out if you feel like it. Just be warned, its fluff. And I mean **UBER-FLUFF**.

And no, I'm not going for a Naruto/Hanabi pairing. I just think that it be funny if all the girls in the Hyuuga clan had some kind of crush on the one person they've probably been told to stay away from since birth, though Hinata's the only one who truly loves him. Hey, it could have been worse. Hanabi could have been using her Byakugan to…..Oh man, I just got a hilarious idea for the next chapter. See you soon.

Next chapter: _The Confrontation between the Timid Princess and the Doomed Fighter_

Reviews make me happy, flames make me cry. You don't want to see me cry, do you?


	4. Confrontation of the Timid Princess

**FINALLY, AFTER 30 EPISODES, THE NEW OPENING **(AND ENDING)** FOR SHIPPUUDEN IS HERE!!!**

…okay, I'm done. Back to the actual Author Notes…

I know, I know, it's been a while since my last update, and I apologize. But what with managing my C2, working as a staff member on another, creating AMVs for fanclubs on Naruto Forums, and working on another oneshot, this was the fastest I could get the chapter out. Plus I wanted to get the NaruHina scene (which I'm happy to say last almost the entire chapter) was as perfect as possible. And I think I did a pretty good job of it too. There's still a little humor mixed in, but not too much since I want the scene to be mostly serious.

Speaking of which, I've been reading through my old chapters, and I noticed something. For a fic marked as "Tragedy/Angst", there's a whole lot of humor in it. But that's a good thing. Otherwise this would be too depressing to write. Maybe I should change the category…

And so far, according to the polls, no redemption for Sasuke. Yay! Keep voting!

**Disclaimer:** Yeah, I own Naruto. That's why I'm sitting here writing fanfics and not the manga or anime. Sheesh…

* * *

"Regular Talk"

"_Thoughts/Flashbacks"_

Remnant of a Legacy

Ch. 4: The Confrontation of the Timid Princess and the Doomed Fighter

"_Crap, crap, crap, crap, __**CRAP!**__" _Naruto mentally screamed at himself as he paced back and forth in front of Hinata's bedroom door. _"How the hell am I supposed to talk to her about this? I don't know how to handle myself in these types of situations. What if I just make her feel worse?"_

He suddenly stopped pacing, standing right in front of the door with a determined expression on his face. _"To hell with wondering what could go wrong! I told Neji I'd try to make her feel better, and I damn sure ain't gonna give up until she does! After all, Hinata seems to like that about me…"_ Smiling to himself at that last thought, he politely knocked on Hinata's door.

"Hinata? You there?" Naruto asked. He waited a few minutes, but there wasn't any response. _"Huh, deja vu,"_ he thought, reaching for the door handle. "Hinata? I'm coming in. Let me know if your not…properly dressed or something like that." Naruto smacked himself in the face with his free hand. "Smooth move, baka, real smooth…" he muttered to himself, pulling the door open and walking inside.

------

Naruto had to admit, he was surprised. He had expected that Hinata, being a Hyuuga, would have had a fancy-looking bedroom. Instead, it was very similar to his own, albeit a whole lot cleaner and tidier. There was a few chairs, a closet, and a small desk with framed pictures of her family, her team, and shockingly enough, a picture of himself in the middle of one of his training sessions. Turning to scan the room for any sign of the girl, he finally spotted her, asleep in her bed. _"Well, that explains why she didn't answer me when I knocked,"_ Naruto thought. He walked up to her, gazing at her sleeping face with a small smile. _"She really is beautiful…I wonder why it took me so long to notice,"_ he wondered to himself as he took a seat next to the bed.

"Naruto-kun…"

"Huh?" Naruto focused on Hinata again, only to see her with a sadden expression on her face and tears falling from her closed eyes. She started to reach out to the side of her bed with one hand

"Naruto-kun, please don't leave me alone…"

"_Shit!"_ Naruto mentally cursed, reaching over to lightly grasp her shoulder. "Hinata, hey Hinata, wake up!" he urged, gently shaking her. Hinata suddenly sat up, pale lavender eyes opening and meeting the gaze of bright blue eyes.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

Naruto released Hinata's shoulder and started rubbing the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "Sorry about waking you up like that, Hinata-chan, but you seemed like you were having a nightmare so I-"

Naruto was unable to finish as Hinata suddenly threw herself into him, arms wrapping around his chest and her head burying itself into his shoulder in a strong hug. Naruto was, for one of the first times in his life, at a complete loss for words. "H-hey Hinata…" Naruto stuttered, finally managing to find his voice.

"I thought I'd lost you…" Naruto's breath caught in his throat, eyes widening at Hinata's whispered statement. She tightened her grip on him, and Naruto suddenly realized how wet his shoulder was becoming. "I really thought that I wasn't going to see you again…"

"_She really does love me, doesn't she? I'm such an IDIOT! How could I have not realized it sooner! That's why she acts the way she does around me, and that's why Neji said it wasn't his place to say. It's because she really cares about me. Hinata …"_ Naruto realized as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. It surprised him how much it hurt to hear her cry. He turned his head slightly to whisper in her ear.

"I promise you, Hinata-chan, I'll be here for you. For as long as you want me to be."

They stayed in each other's embrace for a few more minutes, Hinata still somewhat crying and Naruto gently rubbing her back, until Hinata suddenly realized that she was HUGGING Naruto. In her bedroom. Alone. Dressed in her sleeping kimono. So it can as a shock to Naruto when Hinata suddenly jumped backwards into her bed, grabbing the covers and pulling them up until everything beneath her nose was hidden by the sheets.

Naruto just blinked at the scene, a blank look on his face, before bursting out in laughter. Hinata stared at him for a moment before sitting back up and lowering the covers back to her lap, lightly giggling along with Naruto, who was just starting to get himself back under control.

"_Still the same old Hinata,_" Naruto thought to himself as he watched Hinata laugh. _"Not that that's a bad thing…"_

"Ano, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, blushing slightly when she saw Naruto just staring at her with a small grin on his face.

"Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah Hinata-chan?" Naruto shook himself out of his musings to look at the heiress.

"It's just…I don't m-mind or anything, but…why are you here?"

Naruto suddenly felt a little nervous, realizing the conversation was going to get a little awkward. "Neji asked me to come by. He said that you wouldn't come out of your room no matter what anyone said to you. He seemed to think you were depressed about something…"

"O-oh, I see," Hinata said, looking down at her lap.

"It's because of me, isn't it?"

"What?" Hinata looked up at the blond teenager, who looked unusually serious.

"It's because of what happen to me that you're depressed, right? The fact that I'm like this?"

"I-I…"

"You told me once," Naruto stated in a reminiscing tone, cutting off Hinata's answer, "a long time ago, that you thought of me as a 'proud failure', someone who never gave up no matter what. Do you remember that?"

Hinata could only manage a nod in response. Of course she remembered. It was the first time she was able to talk, really _talk_ to Naruto.

Naruto smiled. "That's good. Then you know I'm not going to give up, right?"

"H-hai"

"That I'm going to fight this thing until the end, right?

"Hai, but Naruto-kun…"

"I made you a promise, didn't I?" Hinata's eyes widened slightly as Naruto gently took her hands in his own. "I'm going to be here for you, Hinata-chan. You and all my precious people. No matter what it takes." Naruto rose to leave.

"Naruto-kun, where are you going?" Hinata asked, not wanting him to leave.

Naruto turned to look back at her. "You helped me realize something, Hinata-chan. I may be the one who's in this situation, but that doesn't mean there aren't other people who are suffering because of it. I don't have the time to just sit around my house moping. I need to make sure my other precious people are okay."

Naruto was halfway out the door when Hinata finally gained the courage to speak up again. "Naruto-kun?"

"Hmm?" Naruto looked back to see Hinata pushing her fingers, something he hadn't seen her do in a long time.

"Do y-you think that, m-maybe when you're done t-talking with everyone, I could s-see you again?"

Naruto stared at her for a moment before smirking. "You mean like a _date_?" he asked in a slightly teasing voice. He hadn't seen her this embarrassed in years.

Hinata's face seemed to invent several new shades of red at once as she blushed harder than she had ever had before. She hadn't even _meant _to imply that! Not that she didn't really, _really_ want to… "A-a-a-a-a-a-ano…"

Naruto's face suddenly appeared inches from her own, effectively shutting down all her mental capabilities. "I'd love to go on a date with you, Hinata-chan," he said, giving her a light peck on the check. He then quickly walked out the of the room. "But I get to decide where we go." he teased just before shutting the door.

Hinata didn't hear his last comment, however, as the toll of gathering up her courage to ask Naruto out(even if it was an accident), her breakdown from earlier, and the fact that Naruto had KISSED her finally caught up with her, and she collapsed into blissful unconsciousness, this time with much better dreams.

------

Naruto leaned back against the door, staring up at the ceiling. _"It's all well and good that I made her feel better, and I definitely want to be able to go on that date with her, but I'm not entirely sure I can keep that promise. No matter how much I may want to…"_

Hearing footsteps, he turned his head to see Neji walking towards him. _"Speaking of promises…"_ he thought, an idea coming to mind as Neji stopped in front of him.

"How did it go?"

"Well, I pretty sure that she passed out again, but I think she'll be in a much better mood when she wakes up." Naruto answered with a happy grin and a thumbs up. Neji was about to ask what happened when Naruto's face and stance suddenly became serious. "And now I need you to do me one favor before I go."

Neji threw a questioning look at the blond, wondering what he was thinking. "What is it?

------

Naruto stood in front of a set of large, impressive-looking doors, arms crossed, impatiently tapping his foot as he glared at a scroll hanging from the wall opposite of him. _"Dammit, where the HELL is Neji? I have a lot of things I need to get done today, and he isn't helping matters by taking his sweet time! If I knew it was going to take him this long, I would have gone with my initial plan and just -"_

The doors opened slightly, and Neji slipped through, turning to close them as quietly as possible. Naruto walked up to him.

"About damn time!" Naruto remarked, anticipation evident in his voice. "Well?"

Neji turned to glance at the loud ninja, a nervous expression on his face. "E-everything's r-ready."

Naruto arched an eyebrow in confusion. _"Since when is Neji nervous? And since when does he stutter? Maybe it's a Hyuuga thing…" _Mentally shrugging to himself, he turned to enter the room, only to stop when the Hyuuga grabbed his arm. "What is it, Neji?"

"Naruto…" Neji started, and then stopped to glance nervously at the double doors before lowering his voice to an undertone. "I really don't think you should do this. The consequences-"

"Come on," Naruto said with a smirk, pulling his arm free of the branch family member, "Since when do I worry about the consequences? You worry too much, Neji."

"Yes, but…" he started again, only to sigh in resignation. "You're going to do this no matter what I say, aren't you?"

Naruto grinned. "Pretty much."

The Byakugan user gave him a half-hearted glare. "Fine, just one more thing…"

"Yeah, what is it?"

Neji took one last nervous look at the doors before answering. "Try not to act too much like….well, you."

"Oh, don't worry," Naruto responded, an evil glint in his eye. He turned to face the doors "I know _exactly_ how to handle this situation…" He reared back on one foot.

"Naruto, what are you about-"

There was a loud "BANG!" as Naruto's foot connected with the two doors, flinging them open and knocking them off their hinges as the inside of the room was revealed to the two shinobi. Naruto walked to the middle of the room and took a defiant stance; arms folded over his chest and a cocky grin on his face.

"ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP!" Naruto shouted, somehow making his voice even louder than normal. "YOU GOT SOME PROBLEMS AROUND HERE AND I'M HERE TO MAKE SURE THEY GET FIXED!!!"

Neji just groaned weakly, face buried in his hands, and trying to resist the urge to weep bitterly. _"I'll kill him, kami help me, I'll kill him…provided Hiashi –sama doesn't do it first,"_ he thought, peering through his fingers at the clan leader, who was staring in shock at the grinning blond.

* * *

Yet another cliffhanger….I surprised you guys haven't flamed me to death yet…

Everyone, be sure to thank my betas, **Margulis **and **Palooka Lord.** After getting their feedback, I decided to add the scene at the end with Naruto and Neji to lengthen the chapter and give you all more to read. Just think, if it wasn't for them, you wouldn't have never gotten to see nervous Neji. Plus the cliffhanger would have been a lot worse…

I'm starting to feel kinda special. A reviewer, THE HEE-HO KING, told me that a lot of people have started using the "Naruto stuck as a Kage Bunshin" idea in the fic. I'm don't know if I was the first to use the idea, but I know I was **one** of the first, so I'm glad the idea has gotten more popular.

Oh, and for those of you who think things between Naruto and Hinata are moving too fast, keep this in mind: Naruto knows he only has about a week to "exist", and Hinata, while not knowing about the time limit, knows that his chakra will run out eventually, so she want to try to get her feelings across before its too late. That whole "use the time you have wisely" thing. And don't count Naruto out just yet. Anything can happen (not saying that it will, but there's always a chance…).

**Random comment here, but has anyone seen Yu-Gi-Oh! the Abridged Series and Naruto the Abridged Series? That stuff is funny as hell. Check it out if you haven't already!**

Next chapter: _Naruto faces Hiashi (and an even scarier group of Hyuuga), and begins to break the news to those closest to him._

Reviews wanted, flames (after yet _**another**_ cliffhanger) expected.


	5. UPDATE INFO! Yes, Im still here!

A NOTICE TO ALL MY READERS(those that are still here, at least. XP)

I'd like to apologize for my extreme lack of updates for "Remanent of a Legacy." A number of things happened, including loosing my laptop privillages at work, where I got most of my writing done, but thats still no excuse for this long of a strech without an update. I want all of your who are still willing to read my fic that I **DO** have every intention of finishing this fic, and I promise that I will start working on and post the next chapter again as soon as I can. For all of you that have hung with me for this long, I thank you and promise that I will redeem myself for my lack of updates.

Also, I will soon be posting a fic co-written between myself and DarkFayt (who, if you havent read his fics, do so immediately) which will basically be one giant parody/crack fic, full of just about every random and bizarre plot bunny that has ever hit us. Dont believe me? The name of the fic will give you an idea on just how crackish(and freaking hilarious) this fic will be:

**MIGHTY MORPHIN' BIJU RANGERS!**

...Yep, we went there.


	6. Faceoffs, Fanclubs, and Family

Woohoo

After almost a year, I finally have a new chapter for you all! Very sorry about that, by the way. I have no excuse for waiting so long.

Now normally I'd have some kind of comment about the fic or a review I got, but considering how long its been since I posted, Im just gonna skip that and get straight to the chapter. I'm sure no one will complian...

**Disclaimer:** As I'm feeling particularly Shikamaru-ish about this, insert your own "I don't own Naruto" joke here. Troublesome…

* * *

"Regular Talk"

"_Thoughts/Flashbacks"_

**Remnant of a Legacy**

Ch.5: Face-offs, Fanclubs, and Family

Hyuuga Hiashi continued to stare as Naruto stood in front of him, mischievous smirk in place, before shaking his head slightly. _"I suppose I should have expected this, considering…"_ he thought to himself, his irritation slightly showing. He turned his head slightly to look to where Neji and a surprising amount of Hyuuga _("must have heard him yelling, though I wonder why most of them are women…"_) were peering in through the open doorway. "Neji, please give us some privacy."

Neji lifted his head, his face previously buried in his hands, to stare at his uncle in mild shock. "As you wish, Hiashi-sama," Neji stated, as he forced the already battered doors closed, leaving Naruto and Hiashi alone in the room.

Naruto just watched silently as the clan leader walked over to the doors, flashing through a few hand signs, before placing on hand on each door. The walls of the room flashed a light blue before returning to normal. Naruto looked at Hiashi questioningly, arching an eyebrow.

"A privacy jutsu," said Hiashi, answering the blonde's unspoken question. "It will prevent anyone from spying on or listening to our conversation."

--

"_Unfortunately, you forgot to take into account the fact that Naruto knocked the doors off their hinges when he…entered the room."_ Neji thought, sweatdropping at the sight of the many clan members trying to get close enough to the doors to hear what as happening behind them, whispering excitedly to each other. _"Strange...I wonder why the women here look almost…ecstatic. And where did Hanabi come from?" _he wondered, watching the younger Hyuuga elbow her way to the door, activating her Byakugan along with many others.

--

"Now then," Hiashi began, walking back to the center of the room where Naruto stood, "I believe you had some foolish idea that the clan had problems and that you have taken upon yourself to 'see they get fixed,' as you put it." He took a seat across from the Genin, motioning slightly for him to do the same. "Would you care explain why you think your opinion matters?"

Naruto nodded, sitting across from Hiashi with a somewhat somber expression on his face. "Thank you for seeing me, Hiashi-sama. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you."

Hiashi blinked, a slight look of shock on his face. "I must say, I wasn't expecting this after your….entrance." he said, glancing at the doors for a moment.

Naruto grinned slightly. "Oh, that. That was just a little payback at Neji for earlier. He was so nervous about me speaking with you, I just wanted to shake him up a bit." he laughed "Plus, I have a reputation to keep after all."

--

Neji face-vaulted, muttering to himself as the gathered women giggled at Naruto's words.

--

Hiashi frowned, his irritation growing. "So you damage my home, disrespect me in front of the other Hyuuga members, insult the way I run my clan, and then tell me it was to play a joke?" he faintly growled out, a tick appearing on his forehead.

Naruto sweatdropped slightly, grin sliding off his face. _"Okay, not a joke person…."_ he thought, gulping a bit at the clan leader's intense gaze. "Um actually, just the first two…"

Hiashi continued glaring before relaxing slightly, gaining a neutral expression again. "Now then, Uzumaki, what exactly is this problem that you feel the need to impose upon this clan and me?" he asked, deciding to humor the boy.

Naruto took a deep breath, looking Hiashi straight in the eye. "I'd like you to consider stopping the use of the Caged Bird Seal and its damaging effects."

Hiashi's surprise was nothing to that of Neji's, who stared at the door in shock, mouth hung open. _"THAT'S what he wanted to talk to Hiashi-sama about_?!" he thought. He chanced a glance at the other people gathered. While a few of them looked just as shocked as he felt, he noticed that the Branch Family women that were there practically had hearts in there eyes. "Why would they…" Neji's eyes widened as something came to him.

Hiashi stared at Naruto's determined expression in silence for a few moments before speaking. "I see….and do you have any reasons for wanting to end a tradition that has gone on since the Hyuuga were established?" he asked, his tone of voice or expression giving nothing away.

Naruto nodded, looking seriously at him. "I do, Hiashi-sama. It creates hostility between the families. I know Neji regrets it, and I don't hold it against him anymore, but there was a time when he absolutely hated Hinata and the Main Branch for what happened to his father. It also hurt Hinata greatly, because she cared for Neji like he was her own brother." Hiashi didn't speak, so he continued. "Also, Branch Family or not, you're all still family, aren't you? And family shouldn't treat family like servants. I may not have any family members, but I consider all my precious people as if they were, and I wouldn't ever want to make them feel as if they meant little to me. I'd do whatever it takes to make sure they're as happy as possible, even after I'm…. " Naruto trailed off, eyes slightly watery as he finally broke Hiashi's gaze. "Just because something is a tradition doesn't make it right."

--

"He's so noble…." a teenaged starry-eyed Hyuuga girl said over the sniffling, some women dabbing at their eyes with handkerchiefs while others (like Hanabi) were full-out weeping at Naruto's words.

"Sentimental moron…." Neji muttered, glancing around before wiping his eyes on his sleeve discreetly.

--

Hiashi stared at Naruto in silence as the latter regained control of his emotions, seemingly lost in thought. When he spoke, his words were the last thing anyone hearing the conversation expected Hiashi to say after hearing Naruto's speech.

"I agree."

--

"He WHAT?!" Neji exclaimed, completely floored at what he had just heard.

"SHHHHHHHH!" the group of Hyuuga girls scolded, him, turning as a group to glare harshly at him before looking back to where Naruto was sitting with dopey-looking expressions. Neji flinched backwards, blinking rapidly in confusion before sighing.

"Naruto's really gonna have to watch himself…."

--

Naruto looked back at the Hyuuga leader in mild confusion. "You…you do?" he asked, tilting his head slightly.

Hiashi nodded, looking at the blond Genin with much more respect than before. "I see my opinion about you was incorrect. It seems I should have listen to Hinata and Neji when they spoke of you. You truly are a surprising person, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto blinked in surprise for a moment before grinning back. "Heh, I'd have to say the same to you." he replied, making the man chuckle slightly.

Hiashi reached into a nearby drawer, pulling a scroll from it and setting it between the two of them. "Inside this sealed scroll is the decree that will eliminate the use of the Caged Bird Seal." he said, shocking the boy across from him. "I had written it before, but was never sure if I should go through with it or not, my desire to stay with tradition and my pride blinding me to the truth: that the Seal's elimination meant the healing of the rift in our clan." He nodded his head slightly to Naruto. "Your words have made me realize something truly significant, something I should have understood long ago…"

Naruto tilted his head curiously, staring back at clan leader. "What was that?"

Hiashi stayed silent for a moment before smiling slightly. "That I shouldn't be concerned for what's best for my clan…what's best for my _**family**_ is what's most important. Thank you, Naruto-san, for reminding me of that." he said, bowing slightly to the blond ninja. "I will put the ruling into effect tonight at the next clan meeting….no matter what any of the Elders say

--

Neji grinned to himself as he leaned against the wall, eyes closed and arms crossed as the women, Branch and Main House, silently celebrated, crying and hugging each other with relieved smiles on their faces.

"Even in your own time of suffering, you continue to try to improve the lives of those around you…not bad for a failure." he thought to himself.

--

Naruto grinned widely, standing and getting to his feet. "That's great, Hiashi-sama. I'm happy to know I could keep my promise before I…" he trailed off for a moment before shaking his head. "No, never mind. Glad I could help." He finished, bowing to the Hyuuga before heading to the door. "I'm gonna make sure I change the whole can for the better!' he declared, looking back at Hiashi as he pulled open the doors.

--

At the sound of the door shifting, all the woman gathered whirled around to face the door, Byakugan activating on instinct as the doors swung open.

--

Hiashi looked over at Naruto, staring and blinking in shock for a few moments before chuckling and shaking his head a bit. "I'm not sure it's for the better, but you seem to have already changed a large part of the clan already…" he joked lightly, nodding at the door.

Naruto tilted his head in confusion at the clan leader's words, turning his head to looking front of him.

And saw a large group of Hyuuga women crouched down waist-level at the door.

With enormous blushes on all their faces.

And their bloodlines activated.

Staring directly at his-

"HEY!" Naruto exclaimed, blushing hard and covering his crouch with his hands as half the women passed out, huge grins on their faces and nose bleeding heavily. The other half, however, were eyeing him hungrily, some smiling seductively while others (Hanabi included) continued to stare at his waist, drooling.

Naruto gulped, turning slightly pale as the Hyuuga women moved forward.

"I am so screwed."

Neji leapt over the women from the side, grabbing the back of Naruto's shirt as he passed before landing and sprinting off down the hall, dragging Naruto behind him. "You know, I'm really appreciative and all, but sometimes being your friend is a giant pain in the-"

"Umm, Neji?" Naruto interrupted voice slightly shaky.

"WHAT?!" the Jounin replied, turning his head slightly to look over his shoulder.

Naruto pointed back the way they came, eyes wide. "RUN FASTER!!"

Neji looked down the hall. "Oh shit." he said in a small voice, turning his head back around and doubling his speed, sprinting away from the group of female Hyuuga attempting to chase him down and do who-knows-what with Naruto, Hanabi leading the pack.

--

Hiashi sighed, staring down at the unconscious woman before glancing over at the steadily retreating group that was chasing after the two teenagers.

"I think I actually fear seeing how Hinata will react if they mange to catch him…or if she even _hears_ about this."

* * *

So there you are, chapter 5 in all it extremely belated glory. And it only took me almost a whole year to post. ……you can start flaming me at anytime now, I deserve it. Just please know I never meant to take this long.

On a side not, if anyone is a fan of Abridged Series, I recently started voicing a couple characters on a new series, Naruto Shippuuden Abridged, by Team EA. I lucked out and got the main character's role(i.e. Uzumaki Naruto happy dance) as well as Kakashi and Shikamaru. For anyone interested in seeing it, the link to Team EA's YouTube profile is on my author profile. Please comment, rate and subscribe.

I can't say for sure when the next chapter will be released, but I can say for sure it won't take any longer than two months at the most.

**Next Chapter Preview**: …….actually, I have absolutely no idea what to call it. Please don't kill me! runs and hides


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